In the Firelight
by forgetablelove
Summary: Hermiones has to go meet an uknown informant...


Hermione Granger shoved some of her long bushy hair out of her face as she made her way through the blizzard. The snow was some down fast, hard, and cold while the wind pushed against her with a cold and strength that almost knocked her over. She was so cold she was shaking, even though she had on a cloak and was pulling it as close as possible around herself. She knew she could cast a spell to warm herself up, but she was so close to her destination and she didn't want to unbundle herself long enough to get her wand out of her robes.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the cabin she was meeting the informant at came into view. It was snow covered, and actually looked quite quaint and cute. She only hoped they had a fireplace she could light a fire in and maybe some blankets she could wrap herself in. She increased her speed as much as the coldness would allow her as she approached her destination.

She rushed into the cabin to find it cold and empty. No one was there waiting for her. Actually, looking around, she noticed it didn't look like anyone had been in there for quite awhile. Everything, from the small furnishing to the floor, was covered with a think layer of dust. But looking to her left, she saw the fireplace. Smiling to herself, she stripped off her outer cloak and reached into her robes to pull out her wand, but nothing was there. Frantically, she searched for her wand in her robes and cloak, but couldn't find it. She groaned. She realized she must have left it at 12 Grimmuald Place. She normally didn't go anywhere without her wand, especially not in the wizarding world and with the war in progress. She grabbed her cloak around herself and curled up on the floor, trying to be as small as possible and hoping that would keep her warm. The cabin was dark as well as cold.

Without warning the door of the cabin burst open unleashing a fresh wind of cold air and some snow came in being pushed by the wind. The person at the door, who was clearly a man by the way he held himself, was standing in shadows from the dark cabin and the stark, snow-colored, full light from the outside of the door. The man didn't move as quickly as Hermione would have like as he shut the door after letting the cold in.

Hermione watched him as he turned around to face her. The cabin was dark, but there was no mistaking who it was. Draco Malfoy stood in the cabin with her. She couldn't help it but to feel slightly angered when she realized that Draco felt no surprise that she was the one who was meeting him. Obviously, the Order of the Phoenix had been kind enough to inform him who he was meeting, but too busy to inform her of who she was meeting. She reminded herself that the Order was busy, so they might just not have had time to tell her.

Draco just stared down coldly at the female looking up at him. He had known Granger would be the one meeting him since he had only agreed once they would tell him who he was meeting. But Granger obviously wasn't smart enough to ask as he was, and was taken completely off guard if her expression was any indication. She was curled up and had her cloak pulled so tightly around her that it looked like she might be trying to build herself a cacoon.

"Merlin's sake, light a fire!" Draco exclaimed, jarring Hermione from her thoughts.

"What?" she asked, sitting up, but not letting her cloak become any looser than need be.

"Light a fire," he repeated with a patronizing and annoyed tone as he glared down at her.

She couldn't look at him as she answered him, "I don't have my wand."

Draco stared her in complete shock for a moment before walking to the fire place and using his wand, placed a fire in the fireplace. He nodded to it when he backed away, saying, "Come close to the fire, it'll warm you up."

Hermione was surprised to find his tone was no longer patronizing and not even annoyed. He sound normal, casual. For a moment she didn't know how to respond, but the cold reminded her. As she settled herself by the fire, she muttered a 'thank you." without meeting his eyes.

Draco stood aside as he watched Hermione warm herself by the fire. She looked innocent as she sat here, rubbing her arms and holding her hands close to the fire. She was staring intently at the fire, making him think she wasn't thinking of the fire and what she was doing, but thinking of something else completely.

Hermione couldn't get over how the warm the fire heated her so quickly. She began to rub her arms to increase the feeling the cold had been slowly taking away and warmed her hands so she could rub them over her arms, hoping that would increase the speed of warming up. She had felt so cold, but now she felt almost normal. The fire danced beautiful in the fireplace as it jumped and sparked, creating shadows through the cabin.

After a few moments of allowing her to warm herself, Draco said, "do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

Hermione jumped the sound of his voice. She had almost forgotten he was there, he had been silent for so long. But his question had reminded her of why they were there in the first place. Turning to face him, she said, "of course."

She still looked so cold to Draco. Her lips had been blue, but now they were back their full, pink normal. He wished he had lied and said he hadn't had his wand so he could have use the excuse to hold her "to share body heat," but he knew the fire was better. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he said, "I have information on Voldemort's next moves."

Hermione nodded. "Well, I kinda thought that." She turned back to the fire, realizing it was going to take some time for him to get the words out.

Draco fished in the pockets of his robes and took out a piece of paper. "Here," he thrusted the paper at the back of her bushy head. She turned out to grab it from his outstretched hand and then turned right back to the fire. Draco supposed she just really liked fires. "It's a list of people who have curses on them. From the Death Eaters. A few a Death Eaters. But the point is, those are the people Voldemort are using in this next step. He's going to try to take over the Ministry of Magic completely."

Hermione watched the fire as she listened. She knew she should be paying more attention, but the fire kept catching her eye. She opened the list and read the names in the light of the fire. Most of the names didn't completely shock her, but some did. Some were openly supporting the Order of the Phoenix and used as informants just like Draco was acting as that moment. "Are you sure these are all right?" she asked as she turned to look at him again.

Draco nodded. "Absolutely." He didn't explain why he knew for sure the names were right, but expected her to ask him anyway.

"Fine," she said as she shoved the list in her robes. "Anything else?" she asked as she stood up.

"No," Draco answered, but noticed she looked like she was heading for the door. "Where are you going?"

"Leaving. If we are done here, I see no reason I couldn't leave," she said, shrugging.

"Wait," Draco called quietly.

She looked at him, tilting her head to the side. "What?"

"It's a blizzard out there. You can't go out there." He has made up the reason on the spot and was proud of himself for how believable it really was.

"Sure, I can. I came here, didn't I?"

"You were curled up, freezing when I got here. And you have no wand," he pointed out.

Hermione knew, by looking in his eyes, there was more he wasn't telling. But she was too impatient to try to guess. "Why shouldn't I go?" she asked again.

"I want you to stay," he confessed to the floor. He didn't know why he was actually telling her that, but he knew it was lonely and she was a female. And even though she wasn't gorgeous, she wasn't horrible looking. Her looks had actually come together quite well. She was pretty, not beautiful or gorgeous, but pretty. And he was willing to accept pretty at that moment.

Hermione gaped at him. Shock, surprise, and confusion all quite evident on her face. "What?"

"Look, it's cold out, too cold to be out walking around, and there's a fire here. And..." he trailed off for just a moment before reminding him he was a Malfoy, and continued, "And I would like your company since even I'm not stupid enough to go out now. And," he added quickly, "I don't want to be blamed if they find you frozen to death out there."

Hermione stared at him with annoyance. "Whatever," she said, sitting back down by the fire. To be honest, she had no real urge to go out and face the cold again. He was right, but she'd never tell him that to his face.

They sat in completely silence for a long time. The fire cracking and the wind blowing outside were the only sounds that filled the cabin. Draco hated the silence, but couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, he passed his time by watching her. As she thought her expression actually displayed the emotions her thoughts caused. She was so open and honest, but she didn't know it. She looked so pretty in the fire light, with the fire casting unnatural highlights and shadows in her bushy hair, and her face lit up by the light.

Hermione just thought. She had nothing to say, so she just thought of the things she could be doing if she had stayed with the Order instead of meeting the informant. She could be doing something productive instead of just staring the fire in silence.

Draco was the first to move. He had been sitting against the wall quite a distance away from her, but he wanted to be closed to the warmth. Not the fire's warmth, her warmth. He settled himself beside her so that he was close enough to feel the heat radiating off her, but not close enough to touch. But he wanted to touch. Without thinking twice, he reached up and lightly moved her chin so that she faced him. She looked shocked when he did.

Hermione jumped when Draco touched her. She hadn't even noticed he had moved next to her. But she found herself being made to face him. For a moment she just stared in surprise, but didn't move away. Her eyes met his and she felt herself getting lost in him. His vivid silver eyes pulled her in while his perfect, chiseled face didn't even need to move. Suddenly she found her mouth was only half an inch away from his. But neither moved.

Draco had been surprised when she had began to come towards him. Her chocolate brown eyes never left his, even after she stopped moving and just held his gaze. He saw longing, want, and need in her eyes. Without a word, without asking, he kissed her.

When Draco's lips met hers Hermione closed her eyes. She felt an onslaught of emotion. His kiss was firm, gentle, and intoxicating all at the same time. The kiss deepened and Hermione kept herself losing her control completely. She had never experienced a kiss like his.

Draco was surprised at how well she kissed back. She was the one who deepened the kiss, but he wasn't complaining. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. The moment their moments touch, he knew he had to let her go before he did anything else he'd regret. Slowly, with great reluctance, he pulled away.

Hermione was still for a moment. Then, as if realizing what just happened, she pulled away and asked in a rough tone, "What the hell just happened?"

Draco grinning arrogantly. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Hermione found herself smiling. "I want to do it again."

Before another word, Draco lowered his mouth to hers again.

—

Draco woke up the next morning with Hermione laying in his arms. The fire had long since went out, yet he didn't feel cold. He realized that the cabin wasn't really cold. He swore. He knew that it meant that the blizzard was over and they had to go.

Hermione stirred. When she opened her eyes, she smiled shy up at him. "Good morning."

He kissed her forehead and moved before greeting her back, "Morning."

Hermione was a little hurt by him moving away so quickly, but more surprised than anything. "Oh wow," she said, "it's no longer cold." She grinned. "That means the blizzard is over!"

She stood up and ran to the door. When she opened it she was greeted with no wind and no snow in her face. The ground was covered with perfect white snow, but the tempeture felt barely low enough for it to stay for much longer. She turned to face Draco, grinning, but noticed his frown. "What?" she asked.

"We have to go."

His words hit her hard. For some reason she hadn't realized that leaving would mean having to say goodbye. She was never good with goodbyes anyway. "Oh."

He stood up, grabbed his cloak from the ground and threw it on. "Until we meet again," he said as he headed for the door.

But before he could actually leave, she grabbed his arm. "Draco, will I ever see you again?"

He nodded. "I'm sure of it."

But his eyes gave him away. He was as uncertain if they had a future, let alone together, as she was. She pulled him to her and hugged him tight. "Please, be careful," she whispered in his ear.

Her breath felt so warm and tantalizing to him as she whispered. He pulled away just enough to capture her mouth with his. Then, after a breathtakingly short kiss, he pulled away and opened the door to leave. Without turning around he said, "Be careful."

Then he left her when they were both unsure of what was to come.


End file.
